Over the years, Ellen has emceed many major award shows, but she says nothing compares to the Oscars®. "It's a huge deal," she says. "There's something really special about this."

During the final dress rehearsal, the enormity of the night finally caught up with Ellen. She says she walked onto the stage and began to cry. "I was so emotional to walk out here," she says.

The day of the Oscars, Ellen says she managed to stay calm...until about 30 seconds before her opening monologue. Then, she says she started to worry that she'd draw a blank on live television. "I had to keep reminding myself to look at the prompter," she says. "A billion people were watching!"

Some of Ellen's jokes were planned ahead of time, but she came up with a few just seconds before she went on stage. "You don't know what's going to happen," she says. "You're hoping for a crazy moment so you can go out and say something about it."